Status Quo in Most Elections for PUCs

Status quo prevailed in 16 of the 17 state regulatory commission races where a winner was clear Wednesday. The Democrats gained one net seat after former New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Chairman Sandy Jones defeated PRC Commissioner Ben Hall, a Republican, by 1,482 votes. The Republicans retained at least 13 seats they held before the election, while the Democrats retained their three seats. The results in one seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) remained unclear. A Republican is assured of winning the remaining Louisiana PSC seat following a Dec. 6 runoff because both of the candidates -- incumbent PSC Commissioner Eric Skrmetta and energy policy advocate Forest Wright -- are Republicans.

Jones’ victory means the New Mexico PRC is now 4-1 Democratic. The PRC hasn't been a major player in telecom regulation, but has been examining whether to regulate CenturyLink as a mid-sized carrier instead of as a large ILEC, said National Regulatory Research Institute Principal Researcher Sherry Lichtenberg. “There may be some impact” as a result in the increased Democratic tilt at the PRC, but it’s not clear whether that would be positive or negative for CenturyLink, she said. Republicans continue to control the other nine commission where seats were on the ballot this year: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Turnover in gubernatorial contests will also have an impact on appointed state commissions, Lichtenberg said. Democrat Tom Wolf unseated Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, while Republican Bruce Rauner bested Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in Illinois. Republicans also won open governorships in Arkansas, Maryland and Massachusetts. The Alaska governor’s race remained undecided Wednesday, with Bill Walker, an independent, leading Republican Gov. Sean Parnell by 3,165 votes. Many governors have the authority to designate a chairman for a regulatory commission from among the body’s existing members, which can determine the agency's partisan bent, Lichtenberg said.

A change of party in control of the governorship "could have some interesting ramifications,” especially for the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, Lichtenberg said. The PUC has been a “very strong commission” and has worked on universal service issues, though its main focus has been on energy regulation, she said. PUC Commissioner Jim Cawley is a member of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service and NARUC’s Telecom Committee. “It will be interesting to see what the effect of a change in leadership will do there,” Lichtenberg said. Corbett appointed current PUC Chairman Robert Powelson to lead the commission in 2011.

The status quo results in most of this year’s commission elections likely means most of those commissions will continue to move in the direction of deregulation, though that's likely to be less of an issue in the telecom sphere, Lichtenberg said. Most of the elected commissions have minimal involvement in telecom policy, she said.

Candidates in most other commission races won by comfortable margins. In Alabama, PSC Commissioner Jeremy Oden and former Greene County Commission Chairman Chip Beeker, both Republicans, ran unopposed. Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little won open seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission as a team, each winning about 29 percent. Georgia Public Service Commissioners Doug Everett and Bubba McDonald, both Republicans, won re-election by double-digit margins. Louisiana PSC Commissioner Foster Campbell, a Democrat, won re-election with 61 percent of the vote.

Montana PSC Commissioner Travis Kavulla, a Republican, ran unopposed; former Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson, a Republican, won an open seat on the commission with 61 percent of the vote. Democrat Crystal Rhoades, Douglas County Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative coordinator, won the Nebraska PSC seat being vacated by Democrat Anne Boyle with 56 percent of the vote. Industry observers pointed to Kavulla’s re-election and the race for Boyle’s seat as important for state telecom regulation. Boyle’s retirement would have a significant impact given her participation in USF policy discussions at the FCC and NARUC, the observers said (see 1411040055). Rhoades’ election to Boyle’s seat likely means the Nebraska PSC will “continue to focus on consumer issues,” Lichtenberg said.

New Mexico PRC Commissioner Patrick Lyons, a Republican, and former New Mexico state Sen. Lynda Lovejoy, a Democrat, ran unopposed for seats on that commission. North Dakota PSC Chairman Brian Kalk and Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, both Republicans, won their races with more than 65 percent of the vote. Former Oklahoma House Speaker Todd Hiett, a Republican, ran unopposed for a seat on the state Corporation Commission. South Dakota PUC Chairman Gary Hanson, a Republican, won re-election with 66 percent of the vote.